All employers are required to verify employment eligibility of their new employees by completing Form I-9. Section 2 of the form is to be completed by a representative of the company within three business days of the employee’s first day of work. To complete Section 2, the employer’s representative must physically review original documents which verify employment eligibility (acceptable documents include a passport, permanent resident card, driver’s license, birth certificate and many others as indicated on the instructions of Form I-9). These documents must be originals and cannot be copies, scanned versions, faxes and also cannot be viewed over a video call such as Skype. This creates a potential issue for companies with a remote workforce where employees do not all live and work in the same area. Continue reading →

Beginning on January 1, 2018 there are a number of new employment laws going into effect in California that employers should be aware of. Read below for details regarding five of these new laws. Continue reading →

Federal Law stipulates that employers only hire individuals who can legally work in the United States, either U.S. citizens or foreign citizens who have the required authorization. To act in accordance with the law, all employers must complete and preserve Form I-9 (Employment Eligibility Verification) to document verification of the identity and employment authorization of all new employees, citizens and noncitizens, to work in the United States.

Employees and employers (or authorized representatives of the employer) must complete the form. The employee must complete Section 1, which they must confirm to their employment authorization. The employee must also present their employer with suitable documents providing identity and employment authorization. The employer must examine the employment eligibility and identity document(s) the employee presents to determine if the document(s) appear to be authentic and relate to the employee and record the document information in Section 2.